'A problem' - Newcastle United have £93m triple injury concern ahead of Man City clash
Sven Botman, Anthony Gordon and Dan Burn are injury concerns for Newcastle United.
Newcastle United have three big injury concerns ahead of next weekend’s trip to Premier League champions Manchester City.
Sven Botman and Anthony Gordon were left out of the squad for the 3-2 FA Cup fourth-round win at Birmingham City on Saturday night. The Magpies were then dealt another when Dan Burn was forced off in the 55th minute with a groin issue.
Speaking to reporters at St Andrew’s, United boss Eddie Howe said: “It seems that we're just going through a little spell where a lot of big efforts in games, we're just picking up one or two injuries, which is a real concern for us because we have such a small squad, as we've said all season.
“So we've got Sven missing, Anthony was feeling his quad, so didn't travel. Then we've got Dan feeling his groin. So, yes, that's a big concern for us.”
Will Sven Botman, Dan Burn and Anthony Gordon returns vs Manchester City?
Asked if Gordon will be back for the visit to the Etihad Stadium, Howe replied: “Yes, I know we hope so. We've treated the cups the same for the past few years. Everyone that's fit will take. So he's not here today, which means he's obviously got a problem.”
Howe then admitted he was unsure if Botman would return next Saturday. Should Botman and Burn miss out then it would leave Newcastle without recognised left sided defender.
“I don't know at this moment in time,” said Howe. “Of course, we'd love him to be, but we don't know how serious Dan's injury is at the moment. So I was a reluctant starter of Dan tonight. I didn't want to take that risk with any of our players.
“But we played against Wednesday because we knew the physical cost of that game, but numbers dictated we had to.”